Electronic design automation tools help a user to create and assess a design of an electronic system in terms of its functionality, performance, and cost. For example, a user can simulate an electronic circuit before it is built to determine if it will perform as intended. If it performs below its desired level, the user can modify the design to improve system performance.
One factor that can affect a circuit's performance is the circuit's power consumption characteristics. For example, due to the constant reduction in scaling of integrated circuit (IC) process technology, the size and power consumption of integrated circuits continues to increase significantly. The instantaneous power and current demands of modern integrated circuits can be so large that the on-chip power grid that distributes power to these circuits are taxed by excessive voltage and power losses. For example, the power drawn by a given node at a given instant may overwhelm the power supply. These instantaneous demands can adversely affect the performance of the IC to the point of failure. Conventional design tools fail to account for dynamic variations in the power grid of the IC.
A method to analyze and correct dynamic power grid variations in an IC includes performing a dynamic power grid analysis of the circuit, identifying an excessive dynamic power grid voltage fluctuation from the analysis, and modifying the circuit to reduce the excessive dynamic power grid fluctuation.